Am Law Picks Akin Gump Partner Shiva Aminian Among 2022 “West Trailblazers”

(San Francisco) – Akin Gump is pleased to share that international trade partner Shiva Aminian has been selected by The American Lawyer as one of its 2022 West Trailblazers, which recognizes “agents of change in their respective practice areas” who “have moved the needle in the legal industry.”

In her published profile, Ms. Aminian was asked the genesis of the idea that made her a trailblazer. She discussed changes in U.S. trade restrictions in recent years, taking as an example, the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security’s expansion of due diligence requirements for companies selling U.S. tech, software and commodities to China. She said that the U.S. government expects companies to conduct the necessary due diligence to ensure its customers are not what regulations define as “military end users” and to maintain auditable diligence records.

Ms. Aminian said, “In response to the new restrictions, Akin Gump worked with Palantir Technologies to create the first RegSpot module, powered by Palantir’s software. The tool streamlines the due diligence process of collecting, reviewing, and storing information using the unique advantages of the Palantir software platform, while leveraging Akin Gump’s ability to assess and respond to legal risks posted by particular transactions.” She added that this tool provides an auditable process that provides a variety of benefits in support of a company’s compliance efforts.

She said that the tool “demonstrates the power of leveraging big data analytics software to create compliance solutions for new legal obligations” and noted that, in response to new regulations and restrictions addressing privacy, AI, cryptocurrency and other areas, “the legal industry will need to evolve to address the challenges that clients face. Law firms will need to be nimble and think outside the box.” She also noted that data analytics and software solutions will need to be leveraged by client solutions and services.

Ms. Aminian was recognized by Los Angeles Business Journal among its Leaders of Influence: Minority Attorneys earlier this year, with the published profile citing her leadership in development of the Military End Use/Military End User Tool discussed above, in conjunction with Palantir Technologies (learn more here).

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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